Happy Happy Birthday

Happy birthday Mommy!
We love you more then anything!

Also, How to Trick Out Your Minivan-
http://theguysmanual.msn.com/?Category=catID3&Id=v3&source=msn&gt1=25050

Bits and pieces

Ok, so I was just surfing the net today and I read this... http://blogs.static.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/24089.html

Reading the part about Raggedy Ann and Andy, I remembered a very similar reoccurring nightmare I used to have. I'm mostly directing this at Keryn, because if I remember right, the root cause of this was our lovely cousin Erin and a bedtime story she told us once when she was babysitting us. It was at a family reunion held in some hotel somewhere. I have a memory of Uncle Frank standing on a staircase with a very large amount of greenery behind him that I think is from the same place. This was before Telima and Lisa were born, I know that because Aunt Kaylene invited Teresa and LaDale to stay with her that night so I figure there were no babies to worry about.

Anyway, Erin told us a truly hideous story about a china doll that had long fingernails and lived in a cage that ultimately killed the girl who bought her because she didn't take care of her properly. I had a particularly hard time spending the night at Grandma Pace's after that because she always had those porcelain masks on the wall.

End of reminisce. Thank you for reading.

PS. Spell check doesn't like any of our names!

chocolate, fire and backpack

We did the activity part of kip's birthday for family home evening on monday night. We went to michael's arts and crafts with a coupon and did our own cheaper version of build a bear. Mommy and daddy are sharing a brown teddy bear. Adam picked a puppy, clothes, backpack and a hat. Kip picked a frog, clothes backpack and a hat. They loved it!

i asked adam the name of his dog. He named his dog Fire. Caren's bear is named Chocolate and Kip's frog is named Backpack. Thanks to the imagination of a 5 year old we are taking great care of Fire and Backpack. Love you all.

Bits and Pieces

Jeff started work this morning. We are all thrilled that he is employed again and we are excited for the new opportunities this company brings.

Spring Break is almost over and I am more then ready for all the kids to go back to school. My house is a slowly deteriorating disaster area that I will be able to start recovering next Monday. It's been difficult too having Jeff home as well. I get so much more done with him gone, even when he worked from home he was 'gone' during work hours.

Going to the store is especially difficult and I am out of almost everything that we need to survive but I don't want to leave Benjamin in charge of my babysitting kids while I go to the store and if I take Kate and Bridget I have to take Erica and Lillian. And if I take Erica and Lillian then I have to take Jacob and Heather. Benjamin is more then willing to stay at home and play video games for as long as possible. But that still leaves me with six kids in WalMart. Not ideal in the least.

I hope to talk to everyone soon. Even though our vacation plans have fallen through for basically the rest of the year, Jeff does get both Thanksgiving and the day after off so we will be going to Vegas for the holiday. Hope to see everyone possible then!

Love ya all!

Hooray!

Wonderful news, Jen and Jeff!

Love, Keryn and LaDale

Job update

Jeff has a job as of today. He received his offer and we are considering it, we'll probably take it. Love ya all!

Aw, man!

I'm so sorry about your job, Jeff. How incredibly inept and frustrating of them! We'll be praying for you.

And David, I'm truly sorry too. And of course our prayers are with you guys, too. This economy is scary right now, and with you in Vegas and Jen & Jeff in AZ, well...at least we don't have a sibling in Florida, because that's the other place with the most problems!

I'm truly grateful that you are all my family. I love you tons and tons.

Jeff

Well, what can I say, Jeff is out of work again! Not that there was anything we could do about it this time. Apparently there is a little known corporate rule at Wells that if you were a permanent employee and left, either voluntarily or not, you can't come back to work on a temp basis for a year. This rather makes us mad since we turned down a temp job at Chase to take the one at Wells, but there you go. The good news is that the temp job at Chase is likely still open and Jeff has two interviews this next week. The first one is tomorrow in Tucson. Not that the office is in Tucson, only the corporate office is, they have a branch in Phoenix and are opening one in Chandler in a few months, so it is promising. If Jeff had still been at Wells he wouldn't have been able to take this interview, so we'll hold judgement for now. He is interviewing with the COO and the National underwriting manager and a few other very high up people. We are slightly confused as to why he is meeting with all these high officials for a simple underwriting job, and not even one at the corporate office, but whatever. We will take what we can get!

On another note, Jeff spoke in church today. His topic was self reliance. It was almost funny how the ward members reacted with he told them from the stand that he was currently searching for his 10 job in two years. I think I got more sympathy than he did! The first counselor in the bishopric told Jeff that he hit everything they had hoped he would and that he did a great job.

Other then that...It's been spring break for a week and we have one week left. The temperature is coming down from the low 90's to the mid 70's so I won't have to kill anyone because I went crazy from the heat. Benjamin has a Mormon Battalion camp over this weekend and Erica has decided that she no longer wants to sleep in her room, she prefers the couch downstairs. Bedtime turned into a fight where I would finally have to carry her, screaming into her room! So I gave up trying to talk her out of this and last night I let her fall asleep on the couch and left her there, alone, in the dark until she ran screaming up the stairs in the middle of the night and was thrilled to be put to bed in her own room with her sister. She hasn't asked again today, so we'll see if that cured her.

That's all! We love you all and with you a great spring!

Spring

I am Kids Playing.

Ooookay.

In related news, I got a sunburn today. First Sunburn of the Season, in fact.

Sadly, Heber got one, too.

And I walked about a million miles today, too--okay, so it was more like 4.5 miles, but yikes my feet hurt.

And now to sleep. And to Colorado on Monday morning! Yippee!

Re: Spring

I am Chirping Birds. Random that they can group us in only 5 questions. I wonder how many different possibilities there are? Oh well. SKT

Spring is Sprung

I am Chirping Birds.

QOTW

I am blooming flowers! I can handle that!
Jeff took the test too, he's the same as me! I don't quite understand that, we didn't answer the same on any of the questions!

new qotw

i am baseball games

what part of spring are you?

www.blogthings.com/whatpartofspringareyouquiz
love caren

Job News

This is news about David's job interview. He did not get the job. He is feeling so down that he couldn't even write this post to you all. He knows on many levels that this is not because he is worthless but he is fighting that feeling right now. He will be receiving a letter in the mail soon to tell his why he didn't get the job. I will let you know if there is anything else to tell (if he can't). Please keep him in your prayers.

New Job Interview

Unfortunately I have not yet heard from to say that I got the job. On the other hand I have not heard from them saying I did not get the job. I have called several times now at 2 different numbers but they have not yet gotten back to me.
I'm still hopeful that I will get this job so please keep me in your prayers.
Thanks

Excerpts from the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon

Chapter One
1. And it came to pass that Heber, son of Bradley, did have a wicked virus, which did cause him to awake in the night many times, so many they could not be numbered. By and by his mother, having felt the pains of exhaustion, placed him in his swing instead of his crib.
2. And, lo, because of the angle at which his sinuses rested, he did sleep the night through. And the heavens opened with shouts of hallelujah because verily, his mother did also sleep the night through.

Chapter Two
1. And the days were accomplished that Ezra, son of Bradley, should be enrolled in kindergarten.
2. It was needful that his mother should obtain a birth certificate for the enlightenment of those that preside over the registration.
3. (For, behold, she was a slacker mother, and had procrastinated the day of her obtaining birth certificates, yea verily even after having much posterity.)
4. And it came to pass that the wife of Bradley, and his sons and his daughter, traveled many miles to the Health Department, and by trading their gold and fine linens (or rather, their debit card), they did obtain the certificates.

Chapter Three
1. And it came to pass that they arrived at the school, a bountiful and large building.
2. And the wife of Bradley, and his sons and his daughter, did journey through the school, Bradley's wife having chosen to park on the wrong side of the building.
3. And the journeying was long and difficult, yea verily, because of the many strange and wonderful things to be seen and touched along the way.
4. And because of the slowness of Gideon, son of Bradley, who is quick to anger if his walker is touched.
5. (But great is the gratitude of Bradley and his wife, for the mobility of their son.)
6. And behold, the wife of Bradley obtaineth and completeth a great many forms, yea, even unto her hand cramping.
7. And it came to pass that Ezra, son of Bradley, was registered for school. And they went away rejoicing, for they also obtaineth books from the school book fair.

David?

So, David or Amy or even Mom, have you heard about the job yet? We have been praying for you! I hope that if you haven't heard anything that at least no news is good news.

That's no moon...

(from Instapundit)

names in jen's book

the unusual names are good, with one exception. Ellory sounds feminine.
caren

Job update

Jeff took the temp job at Wells Fargo. He started on the fourth. We are now beginning to get responses from the apps he filled out right after the lay off. He has two interviews set up for next week, Countrywide and Taylor Bean. We'll keep everyone updated! Thanks!

Answer

Jen, I actually think Brand is fine, but it felt a little overboard with all the other names. I wouldn't necessarily change then to extremely normal names, but all the really weird names was a little distracting to me. Now, I haven't read the most recent draft (because I'm waiting for the next one), but that's my opinion of what I have read so far. Love you!

Re: Names

Jen,

I think all the names are fine. The only name I think is really random in Brand. That is the only name that sounds extra weird to me. But, it is your book and if you want to keep it then I don't think it distracts from your story line. SKT

Quick Question

For all of you who has read even a part of my book I have a quick question. So everyone weigh in on it!

Do I keep the strange names? Or do I give them more "normal" names? I wouldn't change Mya's name, but some of the others would be redone.

So???

David, how did it go today? I know you probably don't know exactly how it went, but how do you feel it went? I hope that everything went well. I was thinking about you today. Love you all!

Good Luck

Good luck on your interview this afternoon, David! You and your family are in our prayers today!

re: race to witch mountain

i'm pretty sure those two are the the only recycled actors because the rest are deceased {being 20+ years later..
caren

re: race to witch mountain

telima might have caught on from her visit to imdb. They used both actor and actress that played tia and tony in 1978. The actors {now 20 years later} are playing sheriff antony and tina. There might be some more of the same actors i'm not sure.
caren

Dissent is the new patriotism

(If the title of this post is bothering you, don't fret. I'm just kidding.)

So on Friday I dressed my four kids in layers (many, many layers), packed them, coats, blankets, stroller, walker, and camera into the car, and trekked up to the state Capitol building in SLC for a protest, dude.

(What was I protesting? Well, the stimulus package, the omnibus spending bill, the mortgage bailout...I think that's all. I won't bore you with political stuff unless you ask me.)

(It was such a weird thing. Protesting seems such a left-liberal pastime, it was odd to find myself doing it. Vaguely uncomfortable, vaguely exciting, and mostly fun. But still very very weird. Not unlike myself.)


About 100 people showed up, and a good time was had by all except possibly Heber, who cried everytime there was applause, and Ezra, who was bored silly. But awesomely enough, I was interviewed by the Deseret News reporter, and Gideon's picture was taken and used for the story. So, basically, we're famous now. Oh, and half of Mercy is on Instapundit, a rather famous website. (Far right side) (Oh, and Ezra was there, too, promise...here's a good picture of him!)

greenery and vegas

hey david,
what do you mean there isn't a lot of greenery around there? if you watch CSI, you'll know that it rains quite a bit in vegas. So it should be pretty green right?
I've got some ocean front property here in arizona to sell you too

caren

Re: Race to Witch Mountain

I'm with Telima on this one. We will also be seeing it...eventually. It looks cute and Amy wants to see it. I'm actually glad they are not following the same story line for this movie. Especially since they did not even keep to the same name. The only thing that mystifies me is the fact that Witch Mountain is now about 50 miles from Las Vegas. I remember a lot more and lusher foliage on the original Witch Mountain than anything we have around here. There's my opinion...for what it's worth.

Race to Witch Mountain

Jen, I have to say I disagree. I would like to see it. Not in the theater (because let's face it, it doesn't look that good) but I would rent it from Redbox after it comes out. The thing is, I don't think they're trying to resemble the book at all. The kids aren't even named Tia and Tony. They're names are Sara and Seth (I looked it up on IMDb). In the previews, it doesn't look like they're following the same story at all, I think they just took a basic premise and went with it. I also don't think it's supposed to be that serious. Anyway, I thought it looked like a cute movie, again not something to watch in the theaters, but I think it would be worth it to rent it afterwards. That's just my two cents.

Race to Witch Mountain

Is anyone other then me feeling nauseous just watching the previews for the new movie, Race to Witch Mountain? I'm glad that Jeff has no interest in seeing it, I'm afraid I would laugh hysterically through all of the most dramatic parts. I don't think that would be the appropriate response. For any of you who haven't seen the previews but have read the book, LaDale this is mostly for you, the casting of The Rock as the adult in the movie mystifies and appalls me! Then there's the face that Tia obviously talks in this movie and they have taken some severe liberties with the powers they have and I am dubious that it bears any resemblance at all to the books! Oh, well. It's too bad. I can still remember making star boxes from plastic canvas after reading these books!

what's the difference between the two?

jen,
i thought they already had a barbie created with a tattoo {a few years back}. I think it was around the same time that they had a pregnant barbie as well.
i have fun making fun of barbie in general. In reading this most recent post, i had fun coming up with with a bunch of barbies that have not been created so far. So i thought i'd share a few.

#1.Gang banger barbie aka "B"
Accesories might include a doo rag, a pistol, a seedy looking apartment complete with white chalk outline on the floor,

#2 Bartending barbie
accesories might include tiny bottles of alcohol, and miniature replica of coyote ugly bar

#3 csi barbie
accessories include gloves, blood splatter, lab, dead ken

#4 junkie barbie, aka "chipper"
accesories include needle tourniquet.... etc

#5 real estate agent barbie
kinda scraggly looking,m accessories include cardboard sign "homeless will work for food"

#6 biggest loser barbie
wait a sec....
contradiction in terms

which leads me to question of the week,
what kind of barbies can we come up with?

love caren

What in the world?!?!

Is anyone other then me disturbed by the "Totally Styling Tatoos Barbie" that just came out? My girls could beg all day long and I still wouldn't buy one for them!

Congratulations

That's great news LaDale!! I'm sorry it happened during the year that has been the toughest for you but it is still great news!

I just heard today about the job I interviewed for and I am being called back in for the 2nd round of interviews on Monday afternoon...please keep me in your prayers.

Thanks
David

I know, I know

I know, I know. I have been away way too long. I can't really give a GOOD excuse, only busy, busy, busy- which is nothing new for anyone and thus not a good excuse.
In any case, I can't promise much more until after parent/teacher conferences in two and a half week. It's called CSAP, parent/teacher conferences and exhibition all rolled into a three week stretch of time.

But I needed to stop and give you some good news. I was elected, nominated, voted (whatever) C.W. Tewell Educator of the Year for Rockrimmon Elementary. Last week I found out I was one of three finalist and Tuesday found out I was the ?winner?- whatever. It really is an honor, albeit a difficult one for me to take. It is hard to realize I 'won' the year I have had such a difficult year.

Of course, the hardest part is knowing I now will be interviewed by some big wig in the school district for nomination into Academy 20's Educator of the Year Award.

CRAZY!!!

Love and miss you all and CAN'T WAIT for SPRING BREAK!!

LaDale

In other news...

Aside from the job interview we have had a very interesting weekend. Skyler has not returned to school this week and I'm not sure if he is even going to make it there tomorrow. He started running a low fever with a persistent cough Friday evening. Over the weekend it did not seem to get any better but certainly no worse, until Sunday evening. He went to bed with a minor toothache but he did not really comment on it till the next day. We made an appointment with the doctor but he started complaining about his tooth and couldn't seem to function so we called the Dentist and managed to get in at about 11 AM. They extracted one of his baby teeth because it was being impacted by his growing permanent teeth. Despite the success of the "surgery" he complained of pain in his teeth the rest of the day. (We did get to the doctor and he has strep and we did get medication for that) We returned to the dentist today and was told that they should have pulled additional teeth but now his gums are so swollen that they can't do anything right now. We checked the medication that the doctor gave and it is nearly the same thing that the dentist would have given us so he has nothing new to take but we are having to put up with Skyler crying every few hours when his pain medication wears off. Skyler, Amy and I haven't had a good nights sleep for several nights now...FUN FUN FUN!
On a good note the other two kids have not caught anything from Skyler. On a bad note...Amy has the same thing (minus the dental work)!

New Job Interview

Yea!! I just interviewed for a new position with Client Development Services as Applications Manager. So far they have only interviewed 2 individuals and they are only likely to interview one or two more. I think I have a real shot at this job. I would appreciate it if everyone could keep my family and me in your prayers since I really need this job!
Thanks everyone.

Happy Square Root Day

Tuesday is Square Root Day, a rare holiday that occurs when the day and the month are both the square root of the last two digits of the current year. Numerically, March 3, 2009, can be expressed as 3/3/09, or mathematically as √9 = 3, or 3² = 3 × 3 = 9.

Ready for my closeup...

More pictures at our scrapbook blog.

Spoke too soon

Publishing is still having trouble. I'll have Bradley take a look at it sometime soon. Won't be tonight, or probably even tomorrow night--he's busy, busy, dreadfully busy, more than a bumblebee more than an ant...

Stitch has a glitch

Well, the glitch is fixed, I guess. I'd take credit, except I didn't do anything except...wait.

In other news, I feel very busy, which is ridiculous because I have been sitting on this couch for the last hour. To be fair, I have been doing financial stuff and meal planning, but...

Anyway, I love you all. It feels like spring outside--a different kind of spring than the warm sunny kind. I'm talking the wet, overcast, cool with a little bite kind of spring. And my tulips are peeking up through the dirt.

And my Heber can spin around in a circle on his back. Sort of like a slow motion break dancer.

fast sunday hmmmmm

well jen there's nothing like a breath chocolate cadbury egg oh i mean breath mint..... {cough cough} theres also nothing like like a breath turkey sandwich on fast sundays {cough, cough}
caren

test

Testing, testing...is this thing on?

Callings at Last

I just spent the last 5 minutes writing a new post but when it I tried to publish it something went wrong. It never published. So, if something should happen and it does publish twice, you will know that it wasn't my fault. I will now try to recreate the other posting.
You all know that six months ago I was released from the Stake YW and since that time I have not had a calling. Well, as of today, I have more than one calling.
The first calling is a ward calling. I have been called to teach the temple prep classes. I am very excited because not only have I not taught this class but I have not even taken this class. There was no temple prep class when I went to temple for the first time. It also means that I do not have to teach every Sunday, in fact, I probably won't even be teaching on Sunday.
My other calling is a stake calling. I am the liaison from the stake for the Outreach Program. This is what they call the program that Church Social Services have for unwed mothers. I will be the person that is called to help with anyone in our stake area (members and non members) who needs this service. I have found out that more that half of these women are not in there teens but are in their 20's and some of them even have other children. I will be responsible for getting them rides, if needed,, to any appointments that they may have. Also, I could be working with couples who want to adopt. Most of the adoptions are open adoptions now and if needed I will be helping with that. How, I don't know yet. The other part of this calling is that it will be my job to teach and inform the rest of the stake members of this program. There are many who have never heard of it. That usually means going to all of the wards and teaching the Relief Society sisters about what is available, making sure that they understand that is in not just for members and that currently about 20 percent of those women being helped are not member of the church.
I am really looking forward to these new callings because they are both something I have never done. Also, both could be very rewarding for me.

Callings at Last

You all know that I was released from the stake young women almost 6 months ago and since that time, I have not had a calling. I truly was wondering if I would ever get a calling. But as you can see, by the title, I now have more than one. I have two. One of them is a ward calling. I have been called to teach the temple prep classes for our ward. This is very exciting for me because not only have I never taught this class I have never even been in it. They didn't have temple prep classes of any kind when I went to the temple for the first time. I am thrilled to have a calling that is not every Sunday. If I have to go out of town then I can.
Okay, my second calling is a Stake calling. I am liaison from our stake for the outreach program. That means working with LDS Social Services to help unwed mothers and adopting parents or anything else that is needed. Mostly I will be the person they call to help with rides to doctors or any other kind of appointments or things like that. I will be an ear and someone that they can turn too. The thing that is the most interesting is that more than 60 percent of these women are not teenagers but are in their 20's and some even have other children. I also have the responsibility to train and inform the Relief Society sisters in the stake about this program as there are many who have never heard about it. Also, this is open to none members as well as members. If fact, about 20 percent of the women they help are not members.
I am really looking forward to all of this and am very gratified by somewhat terrified by these callings.

Fast Sunday

I have to say, I haven't had too hard of a time fasting for several years, stomach growling aside. But I've never realized just how hard it is to fast when you have miniature Cadbury cream eggs calling your name from your hidden stash. (They have to be hidden, they wouldn't last 5 minutes if my kids knew they even existed, let alone where they were!)